When I created the list of models, I decided to minimize the number of models and simplify future analysis by combining some that were related with a /. I did this in two cases. In some cases one model replaced another. For example, there was the “Z3 / Z4.” In other cases, the special performance variant of a model had its own name, or different bodystyles had different names. For example, there are the “A4 / S4” and, most unwieldy of all, the “Jetta / Rabbit / GTI.” In all such cases, the / essentially means “or.”

Well, these combined model names have been confusing many people. Members will email me saying, “My car is a Z4, not a Z3” or “I don’t have an S4, just a regular A4.”

The obvious solution: do what I now realize I ought to have done in the first place and list every model singly. Problem is, this is only easy to do with those where the specific model can be determined by model year, as in the Z3 / Z4 example. So I have already done these. When the specific model depends on the bodystyle or powertrain, the task is much more complicated. Not everyone has supplied this information, and even if I email members for this information many will not respond. It’s also more work for me, since the pricing information will have to be split.

Still, it’s something that needs to be done. So you can count on the / disappearing entirely at some point, hopefully by the end of the year.